Social Support
Having a strong social network has been positively associated with resilience. Survivors of trauma who have a strong support system are less likely to suffer from PTSD and depression than those with poor support. Close supportive relationships may enhance resilience as well as mental and physical health by increasing self-confidence, fostering the use of more effective action-based coping strategies and reducing high-risk behaviors such as excess alcohol use, and through effects on a number of neurobiological factors, including the hormone oxytocin.
In recent years, social neuroscientists have found that oxytocin appears to play an important role in affiliation, social communication, social recognition, the ability to correctly classify a facial expression as positive or negative, and the ability to infer the mental state of another person. Oxytocin is also known to reduce the stress response by inhibiting the amygdala and by dampening the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response to stress. In human studies, administration of oxytocin has been shown to increase trust and decrease stress. It may be that strong social support enhances resilience in part through its association with oxytocin and oxytocin’s effect on stress reduction.
Role Models
Throughout life, humans learn by imitating others. We imitate the behaviors, patterns of thought, skills, values, and attitudes of those around us, often without knowing it. Psychologist Albert Bandura pioneered the notion that observational learning involves more than simple mimicry. It requires learning concepts and rules of behavior that later help to guide our actions.
For example, if I have a resilient role model whom I wish to imitate, I might observe and study my role model to determine how he or she behaves during times of high stress. If I notice that my role model always copes with stress by taking an active approach (e.g., assessing the situation, solving problems, reaching out for social support) rather than a passive one (e.g., waiting for the dust to settle, procrastinating, blaming others, drinking alcohol), I now have a principle to follow that will enhance my resilience.
Recently, researchers have suggested that imitation may involve activation of mirror neurons, which are located in brain regions that process movement, language, emotions, and perceptions. When humans observe the behavior or emotion of another person, the same brain regions that are activated in the observed person are also activated in the observer. Perhaps in order to understand the feelings or behaviors of another person, we must activate our own analogous neurons and brain regions. It is possible that mirror neurons play an important role in empathy and social competence.
Physical Fitness
It is well known that exercise improves physical health. But exercise can also have a strong positive effect on mental health and resilience. Exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety, to elevate mood, and to improve brain function and cognition. Some studies have reported that exercise is as effective as taking an antidepressant for the treatment of mild to moderate depression and may protect against future episodes of depression and future stressors.
Exercise is believed to have its positive effects on health and to enhance resilience to stress through a number of neurobiological mechanisms: increased cerebral blood flow; increased perfusion of the hippocampus; increased release of chemicals known to lessen depression (e.g., serotonin, dopamine) and improve mood (e.g., endorphins); dampening of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response to stress, which may protect the brain from the damaging effects of prolonged cortisol exposure; and enhanced expression of genes associated with neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, which may help to repair and promote growth of neurons in a number of brain regions.
The ability to manage and even grow from stress has major implications for physical and mental health. It is well known that chronic unremitting stress that is not managed well can cause damage to the body and the brain. On the other hand, learning to master increasing amounts of stress and training to enhance one or more resilience factors can foster resilience.
Fortunately, it is now clear that nearly everyone can become more resilient by following an emerging set of principles and guidelines that are based on recent advances in biological, psychological, and social research. With increased research focused on the complex interplay of genetics, development, cognition, environment, and neurobiology, it will be possible to refine these guidelines and develop more effective and comprehensive training programs to enhance resilience to stress.
Steven M. Southwick, M.D., is the Glenn H. Greenberg Professor of Psychiatry, PTSD, and Resilience at Yale Medical School. Dennis S. Charney, M.D., is the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Their book is “Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges.”
This article is updated from its original publication in Brain World Magazine’s Spring 2013 issue.
